As mentor, GM Rao likens himself to Tata than Murthy

Bangalore, Aug. 29 (PTI): Having donned the mantle of a mentor of infrastructure major GMR, Chairman G M Rao today said he would like to position himself more in the mould of Tata group head Ratan Tata than Infosys' N R Narayana Murthy.

After announcing an organisational restructuring as part of which he became group chairman from chairman and managing director earlier, Rao said: "Narayan Murthy kind of mentoring could be good for IT sector but not for infrastructure sector.

"Whenever I spot a crisis, I will be the first one to jump into it," Rao told PTI after announcing the changes aimed at bringing in professional CEOs in different businesses of the group, which has a market capitalisation of about five billion dollars now.

"I will be focusing on institution building, strategy and planning for mega projects. But I am not taking a back seat," the 57-year-old industrialist said.

He said although professionals were being brought in the group to take care of day-to-day operations, he would continue to take responsibilities of key group decisions, besides mega projects such as the Delhi International Airport (DIAL).

Preferring himself to be on the lines of Ratan Tata, who is still actively involved in many of Tata Sons' activities, Rao said besides other roles, he would also take up the responsibility of mentoring senior leaders of the GMR Group and other key organisation building initiatives.

Stating that he did not like the GMR group to be judged merely on its assets, Rao said he would like to create an institution based on values.

In his new role, Rao will also take care of the group's various functions, including DIAL, Management Assurance Group, Corporate Relations and the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation -- the corporate social responsibility wing of the group.

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